Kabul mulls legal challenge to Sharbat Gula’s arrest

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Kabul is likely to challenge the arrest of Nat Geo's fabled girl Sharbat Gula -- now an ailing woman -- in a Pakistani court, a consulate official said on Thursday.

Familiar with contacts between the two sides on the issue, the official confided to Pajhwok Afghan News they were ready to hire a lawyer and provide legal assistance for the woman with haunting eyes.

The Afghan embassy in Islamabad would approach the Foreign Office for the hoAnchornourable release of SharbatGula, who is currently being investigated by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) operatives.

FIA agents arrested the green-eyed Gula during a raid on a house in the northwestern city of Peshawar late on Tuesday for fraudulently acquiring a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC).

The woman, who made headlines around the globe as a famed Nat Geo girl, has been accused of illegally acquiring Pakistani identity documents with the complicity of three officials concerned a few years back to avoid deportation to her homeland.

"Being an Afghan citizen, she deserves assistance from the government. More so, on medical grounds," the source said, hoping the woman would be released soon. The 44-year-old is said to be suffering from high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, Steve McCurry, who photographed Gula in 1984, has extended support to her. "I am committed to doing anything and everything possible to provide legal and financial support for her and her family,” he said.

In a statement, the renowned photojournalist said: “I object to this action by the authorities in the strongest possible terms. She has suffered throughout her entire life, and her arrest is an egregious violation of her human rights.”

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